1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a composite textile fabric, and more particularly to a composite fabric for wicking moisture away from the skin of the wearer and transporting moisture from the skin-side surface to the opposite-side surface of the fabric.
2. Description of the Related Art
To facilitate absorption of the perspiration of the wearer, garments are preferably made of a textile fabric consisting of natural fiber such as cotton, silk or linen, or by a blend of natural and synthetic fibers. Such garments cannot quickly disperse the moisture away from the skin, though they can absorb perspiration from the skin. This kind of perspiration-absorbed garments require a period of time to evaporate moisture so that wearers will feel cold and clammy.
A multi-layer moisture management fabric is disclosed in an U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,782 dated Jun. 8, 1993 issued to Moretz et al. The multi-layer moisture management fabric includes a relatively thick inner moisture permeable hydrophobic fabric layer for being positioned next to the skin of the wearer of the garment, a first, relatively thin intermediate hydrophilic fabric layer positioned adjacent the hydrophobic fabric layer on the side thereof away from the skin of the wearer, and a second, relatively thick outer hydrophilic fabric layer positioned adjacent the first hydrophilic on the opposite side thereof from the hydrophobic fabric layer. Due to-the hydrophobic and non-absorbent characteristics of the inner fabric layer, the multi-layer fabric is only suitable to be used to absorb a relatively large amount of fluid, like urine, and is unsuitable to efficiently and quickly wick a relatively small amount of fluid, like tiny drops of perspiration, away from the skin.
Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 52-25168 proposes an absorbent fabric having an intermediate layer of ultra-fine fibers of less than 0.7 denier covered with a surface layer of coarse fiber of more than 1 denier, in which the ratio of fineness between the two fibers is more than 4 and the fiber surfaces are processed by hydrophilic treatment. Though a wet feeling on the wearer skin can be avoided because the water is immediately removed from the skin through the surface layer, the water absorbed in the sheet cannot easily evaporate therefrom. On the other hand, the absorbent fabric lacks durability against abrasion, pilling, and acratching because the surface layer is composed of a yarn made from ultrafine fibers of less than 0.7 denier, which are easily damaged by external force applied to the fabric surface.
A knitted fabric for clothing is disclosed by Toda et. al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,546. This knitted fabric has a multi-layered structure made of non-hydroscopic fiber yarn, such as synthetic yarn. The inter-fiber space in a yarn composing an outer layer is smaller than that in a yarn composing a next-to-skin layer. Fibers which compose a yarn of the next to-skin layer having the fineness of more than 1 denier, especially in the range of 4 to 6 denier, are proposed. On the other hand, the next-to-skin layer fiber with a fineness of at least 1.5 times greater than the outer layer fiber is brought up. However, a fabric made of a fiber more than 3 denier is coarse. Therefore, the kind of fabric is not suitable for undergarment and nipped-in sportswear. Moreover, a next-to-skin layer made of fibers in the range of 4 to 6 denier can not absorb the perspiration from the skin efficiently due to large inter-fiber space. Moreover, in the present garment market, a large number of the garments are suffering from peeling and being hooked or snagged. As a result, it is now of great interest to develop a composite textile fabric with delicate texture, efficient perspiration absorbency from the skin and durability against external force for use in undergarment but without the problems of peeling and being hooked or snagged.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a composite textile fabric for use in undergarment to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the previous inventions.
It is another object of the invention to provide a composite textile fabric, which includes a first fabric layer and a second fabric layer. The first fabric layer is a next-to-skin fabric layer and has a fineness of 3 denier or less than 3 denier, preferably 0.5 denier to 2.5 denier, in order to quickly wick perspiration and other fluids away from the skin of the user. The second fabric layer has a fineness of 0.1 denier to less than 1 denier, preferably 0.9 denier or less than 0.9 denier in order to pull perspiration and other fluid from the first fabric layer. The ratio of fineness, the first fabric layer to the second fabric layer, is at least 1.5.